Angkor Wat: The World’s Largest Religious Monument

Angkor Wat, located in Siem Reap Province in Cambodia, is the world’s largest religious monument. “Angkor” comes from Sanskrit and means “city” while Wat is Khmer for “temple.” Cambodians are usually referred to as Khmer people and Thai are referred to as Siem. So, the name Siem Reap means “Thai Defeat,” but that’s another story. Angkor Wat also appears on the national flag of Cambodia.

Angkor Wat was originally built in the 12th century by king Suryavarman II as a Hindu temple. It was a dedication to Vishnu. Later, in the 16th century, Buddhism took over and Angkor Wat was converted to a Buddhist temple. The Buddhists tried to paint the giant wall mural depicting several scenes from Hinduism and in some parts, you can actually touch the carved stone on the mural.

Angkor Wat lies on an island 1km x 1.5km with a 1 km wide moat on all sides. There are two entrances: the front in the west and the back in the east. Angkor Wat, unlike most temples, faces to the west instead of the east to signify that Suryavarman was intending to be buried there. Inside the temple, there is a central point where you can see in all four directions, many intricate and sometimes unfinished carvings, and a big central tower which was the king’s tomb. The central has really steep stairs that you could be afraid of going up and down.

Overall, Angkor Wat is a great place and has a lot of extra history and details to it, and it is also a great tourist destination.

Hehe, It’s a Lizard!

I took this picture of a really cool lizard in Cambodia.

Gods Versus Demons

This picture was taken by the wall mural in Angkor Wat. If you look closely, the ones facing to the right are different from the ones facing to the left. The gods are facing to the right and the demons …

Khmer BBQ

I took this picture in Cambodia of a Khmer hot pot barbecue. They give you all the raw ingredients and you cook them yourself.

The History of Food: The Best of the Best: ICE CREAM!

The earliest known form of ice cream was in the Persian Empire when grape juice concentrate was poured on top of snow for a treat when it was hot outside. People have been doing this for centuries. Sorbet is said …

The History of Food: Escargot

Ewwwww… escargot. These creatures are a treat for the French, but we think of it as being disgusting. These are snails that have gone through heliculture and have been stuffed back into their shells with garnishes. Years ago, in ancient …

The Pink One

This picture was taken in August 2011 with a Nikon S800.

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

A Long Way Gone is an autobiography about the life of Ishmael Beah and his experience in the Sierra Leone Civil War. At the start of the war, he is separated from his family and determined to find them. When Ishmael finally reaches the village where his family settled, he witnesses the rebel army attack and his family perish in the battle. The twelve-year-old boy is forced to become a child soldier and fight the rebels to stay alive and to get revenge on the people who killed his family. The government steps in, in an effort to rehabilitate as many of the children soldiers as possible. Ishmael struggles through the rehabilitation process, but ends up becoming a representative and public speaker for the program due to his great success in it. They help reunite him with his uncle and his uncle’s family. Soon after, he is recommended to attend a convention held in New York about how to improve the lives of children living in Sierra Leone. This trip changes Ishmael’s life forever.

I enjoyed this book for the most part, however, I think it would have helped to have more knowledge about wars than I have. There were parts and terms that I did not completely understand, which made it hard for me to fully follow the plot. I would highly recommend this book to people who know much about wars and are interested in them. I believe the author could have used more suitable words for my age group, as opposed to such specific war terms. Also, the book started off too slow and ended rather rushed and abrupt, I thought. Overall though, the book was entertaining, just a little more complicated and hard to follow than I thought was necessary.

This book made me realize just how bad some of the wars are in the world and how kids are forced to be a part of them. I knew about wars like the Sierra Leone Civil War, but never understood just how much they could affect a country and the citizens of the country. I never thought much about how wars could affect kids’ mental states so severely and sometimes permanently either. Ishmael Beah was one of the lucky ones after rehabilitation to be able to live a fairly normal life. I learned a lot about wars from this book, both the fighting and the affects of them.

Take Me Back: Summer ’12

Summer, Long nights, Basketball, “Campies,” Tans by the poolside, Family   Take me back to Summer ‘12, Where there was basketball, Ohio   Where there was camp, making new friends, like sisters,   Where there was the warm weather, Days …